Educating in Occupational Therapy

Reflection

A unique addition to the Dominican Occupational Therapy (OT) program is the Education course to teach a student how to present information clinically and understandably. Below you will find my Educator Philosophy Statement, my Clinical Presentation and my Community Partner Teaching Presentation to the Pre-OT students soon to enter the program. This course will acutely strengthen my teaching skills as an OT to teaching clients and their families about their conditions, treatments, recommendations etc.

Me as an Educator

I have always valued my education and love to teach others my skills and knowledge. I recognize that with education, you gain power and responsibility. For example, knowing CPR or the Heimlich maneuver is important in life-threatening situations and gives an individual the responsibility to act. The more information you gather, the more responsibility it is on you to act appropriately armed with that knowledge. I wish for a world where more people are educated, especially about what health and well-being and something I can do for that is to teach others important skills. I know in my practice as an occupational therapist I will teach clients and their families on conditions, critical care for treatments and home programs, etc. I will have key skills like active listening, learning styless, client centered care, and finding the just right challenge to build on what my learner knows. In this course on OT as an Educator, we had the opportunity to practice two different kinds of teaching presentations: One for clinical practice and the other on a subject concerning the OT realm for a community partner. These opportunities and being able to practice in front of my cohort gave me and my group insightful feedback on presentation style and approach. I have learned that my teaching style incorporates a lot of activities and learning through kinesthetic and visual styles. I often will draw from experience or an example in order to explain a topic. I facilitate discussions and teaching by encouraging my students to share their experiences. I always want to ensure I am teaching someone from their base knowledge of the topic and adding a layer of knowledge from that. In OT we call this the just-right challenge. It allows for growth at a reasonable pace to understand and further someone's learning. I do enjoy having an interactive audience and have had to adapt to online teaching. While I took this course, the global COVID-19 pandemic occurred and thus I had to make one of my presentations over Zoom. Though this brought its challenges I enjoyed having the chat option as it is a less intimidating option for more shy students to participate. I also learned how to receive feedback. This skill can be hard to develop as we are protective and want to defend our work. This class also offered my cohort a time to work collaboratively with each other and community partners. This allowed us to refine our communication and professional behaviors. Overall, I hope that in my future as an educator my learners will see that I care about them and that they understand the material. Beyond their test or their treatment session, I hope I effectively teach them skills they can then teach others. I also want my learners to know that I am a resource for them if they have any questions or concerns. Perhaps one day, I will become a professor and teach other OT students again.

"Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man To Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime."

This quote embraces my teaching style as I want to teach someone tools to use to help themselves which is more sustainable of a teaching style. I think that if you give someone all the tools for them to help themselves it will make them more independent.

Me as a Learner

My learning style is kinesthetic and visual. I have dyslexia which has impeded my reading and math skills but I make my learning as interactive and engaging in my setting as I can. When learning and studying, I tend to make movements, jokes, or funny connections to remember the material. I always draw pictures, charts, and diagrams in my notes as well as use color to my advantage. My learning style has influenced my teaching style because I try to incorporate visual learning and personal connection to the subject while I teach. Personally, I feel that I understand a subject once I can teach someone that subject material, especially if they have a different learning style than me. When preparing for an exam, I have been able to practice this skill as in my study group we have different learning styles. I try my best to get the level of my learner and understand where I can pull from to make connections easier for them. I often ask, what do you understand about the material and where do you think there’s a gap? I then try to simplify the material as I can and build layer by layer on it. I always ask my learner to stop me once something is confusing or not clear to them. After teaching them, I check in with them to see if my explanation made sense and if they would like for me to repeat any part. I also think that asking questions while studying shows another level of understanding as you often have to apply the material in order to get the answer correctly. I like the real-life scenario questions that I would encounter in practice best. I think there is always something to learn and people are rich in knowledge thus I hope to learn from people’s experiences. At the core of learning and teaching is pinpointing what part of the material is challenging and using our tools to understand it. I find I will always be tied to education due to my natural instinct to help others.

My artifacts of this semester are displayed below but I am proud of the handouts and presentations I was able to present this semester. I feel better about my teaching skills and am grateful to have this class to refine my teaching style.